System and method to manage delivery healthcare to a patient

Abstract

A system and method to manage delivery of healthcare via a plurality of resources to a patient is provided. The system and method track and output a signal representative of a location of at least one of a series of resources relative to a control volume associated with the patient, acquire at least one signal representative of detecting ingress or egress of at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the control volume; and output a first signal representative of one of a series of milestones as defined in a predetermined protocol in response to detecting ingress or egress of at least one of the resources relative to the control volume.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of managing delivery of healthcare via a plurality of resources to a patient, the method comprising the steps of:
 tracking and outputting a signal representative of a location of at least one of the plurality of resources relative to a control volume associated with the patient;   acquiring at least one signal representative of detecting ingress or egress of at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the control volume; and   outputting a first signal representative of one of a plurality of milestones as defined in a predetermined protocol in response to detecting ingress or egress of at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the control volume.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of tracking includes outputting at least one signal representative of an ingress or an egress of at least one resource relative to a sterile zone within the control volume. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of tracking is performed by more than one of the following: an optical tracking system, an electromagnetic tracking system, an RFID tracking system, an IR tracking system, a GPS tracking system, and a voice recognition system, and wherein the step of tracking includes outputting at least one signal representative of ingress or egress of one of the plurality of resources relative to a sterile zone located within the control volume. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising the steps of outputting a probability of ingress or egress of at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the sterile zone, the probability dependent on how many of or which of the different tracking systems detects ingress or egress of the at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the sterile zone. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the step of outputting the probability is dependent on a mathematical expression having a first factor associated with detecting ingress or egress of the at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the sterile zone with a first tracking system and a second factor associated with detecting ingress or egress of the at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the sterile zone with a second tracking system different than the first tracking system. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising the steps of:
 outputting a comparison of ingress of at least one of the plurality resources to a sterile zone defined within the control volume relative to egress of at least one of the plurality of resources from the sterile zone, the ingress and egress as detected by one of the tracking systems.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
 outputting a second signal representative of another of the plurality of milestones as defined in a predetermined protocol in response to the step of outputting the first signal;   in combination with one of the following steps:   detecting ingress or egress of another of the plurality of resources relative to the control volume, and   detecting a key text in a translation of an audio recording where the key text is associated with executing the another of the plurality of milestones and predetermined in a protocol template for storage in a database.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
 outputting a comparison of a predicted time for the milestone to occur relative to a measured time of occurrence of outputting the first signal representative of the milestone.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the milestone is representative of one of the following: prep of the patient to receive a medical procedure, sedation of the patient to receive the medical procedure, and close of the surgical site on the patient. 
     
     
         10 . A system to manage delivery of healthcare via a plurality of resources to a patient, the system comprising:
 at least one tracking system operable to generate a signal representative of a location of at least one of the plurality of resources relative to a control volume associated with the patient; and   a controller in communication with the tracking system, the controller including a processor in communication with a memory, the processor operable to execute a plurality of program instructions stored in the memory, the plurality of program instructions representative of the steps of:
 acquiring at least one signal representative of detecting ingress or egress of at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the control volume; 
 outputting a first signal representative of one of a plurality of milestones as defined in a predetermined protocol in response to detecting ingress or egress of at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the control volume. 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the tracking system comprises more than one of the following: an optic tracking system, an electromagnetic tracking system, an RFID tracking system, an IR tracking system, a GPS tracking system, and a voice recognition system, and wherein the tracking system generates at least one signal representative of ingress or egress of one of the plurality of resources relative to a sterile zone located within the control volume. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising program instructions representative of the step of calculating a probability of ingress or egress of at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the sterile zone, the probability dependent on how many of or which of the different tracking systems detects ingress or egress of the at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the sterile zone. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein outputting the probability is dependent on a mathematical expression having a first factor associated with detecting ingress or egress of the at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the sterile zone with a first tracking system and a second factor associated with detecting ingress or egress of the at least one of the plurality of resources relative to the sterile zone with a second tracking system different than the first tracking system. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the further comprising program instructions representative of the steps of:
 outputting a comparison of ingress of at least one of the plurality resources to a sterile zone defined within the control volume relative to egress of at least one of the plurality of resources from the sterile zone, the ingress and egress as detected by the tracking system.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , further comprising outputting a second signal representative of another of the plurality of milestones as defined in a predetermined protocol in response to the step of outputting the first signal, and
 in combination with at least one of the following:   detecting ingress or egress of another of the plurality of resources relative to the control volume, and   detecting a key text in a translation of an audio recording where the key text is associated with executing the another of the plurality of milestones and predetermined in a protocol template for storage in a database.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 10 , further comprising program instructions representative of the steps of outputting a comparison of a predicted time for the milestone to occur relative to a measured time of occurrence of outputting the first signal representative of the milestone. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 10 , further comprising an program instructions representative of:
 calculating a variation between a difference in a predicted schedule of time of use of the resource and an actual time of use of the resource relative to a threshold; and   outputting an interdependency of the scheduled time of use of the resource for the patient relative to another scheduled time of use of the resource for another patient in response to calculating the variation exceeds the threshold.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the milestone is representative of one of the following: prep of the patient to receive a medical procedure, establishment of a sterile field, sedation of the patient to receive the medical procedure, and close of a surgical site on the patient.